Welcome to a new column that we hope to be a weekly staple here with Last Word On Sports, where each week we analyze the latest episode of World Wrestling Entertainment Network’s hottest program, NXT and rank the five performers who made the biggest impact.
This week’s episode was a combination of both live action recorded at the WWE Axxess event during WrestleMania 31 weekend, as well as video packages from that same weekend. Those video packages included behind the scenes footage from a live NXT show that featured over 5000 fans from the Event Center at San Jose University, and an incredible video package following Hideo Itami throughout not only WrestleMania 31 weekend, but also serving as an overview of his career up to that point in NXT and WWE.
Show Overview
- Axxess Video Package: WWE Axxess is a WrestleMania weekend tradition, that serves as a fan festival similar in ideals to that of San Diego’s Comic Con. It’s a way for fans to meet their favorite performers, enjoy memorabilia from various eras of WWE, purchase merchandise, and watch matches. For the last two years, NXT has been a huge part of Axxess weekend, and this package showed just how big.
- Tournament Highlights: During WrestleMania 31 Axxess, an eight man tournament was held with the winner receiving entry into the 2nd Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at Wrestlemania 31. This package showed quick clips of the first round matches featured in that tournament including Finn Balor vs Baron Corbin, Tyler Breeze vs Bull Dempsey, Hideo Itami vs Jason Jordan, and Adrian Neville vs Kalisto. Although it would have been nice to see this tournament in its entirety, NXT is a one hour program so some sacrifices had to be made.
- Hideo Itami vs Adrian Neville: a semi-final match up in the qualifying tournament for a spot in the 2nd Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and according to the NXT broadcast team, a first time meeting for these two (in NXT at least, Neville and Itami may have fought each other internationally in the past). Itami was victorious after a running kick.
- Finn Balor vs Tyler Breeze: a semi-final match up in the qualifying tournament for a spot in the 2nd Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. I couldn’t help but think back to the #1 Contender tournament for the NXT Championship. Tyler Breeze attacked Hiedo Itami for robbing him of his chance to face Balor, stating that he could have beaten him, had he be given the chance. Well, Breeze proved himself to be a liar as Balor was victorious with a Coup De Grace.
- Dana Brooke Video Package: A further look at Dana Brooke and her accomplishments during WrestleMania 31 weekend. She was shown signing autographs, training in the gym, and wrestling during NXT’s Friday night show in San Jose.
- NXT San Jose Show Video Package: One of the highlights of the night, with WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H introducing the viewers to the Event Centre even before the ring was set up. We were then treated to a highlight reel set to the old TNA Impact “Adrenaline Rush” theme song, and backstage footage of Triple H rallying the troops with a speech about the 5000 people who had paid to see them there that night. Bayley talked about how emotional the night was, considering it was in her hometown, in front of her friends and family. They showed comments from WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall and Shawn Michaels, as well as Stephanie McMahon, and current face of WWE John Cena. Again, it would have been nice to get a match from this event shown on television, but time restraints just wouldn’t allow it.
- Sami Zayn vs Rhyno Promo: A simple, but effective promo for a big match happening on next week’s show. This will be an excellent test for the returning Sami Zayn and the first real test for Rhyno since joining the NXT roster. Up until this point, he has faced a lot of relative unknowns. Next week he faces the former NXT Champion, so it is sink or swim time for both competitors and it will be interesting to see what happens.
- Hideo Itami vs Finn Balor: The finals of the qualifying tournament for a spot in the 2nd Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Despite most fans knowing the outcome of this final, the match itself was impressive, if not living up to the hype produced by their semi final match in the #1 Contender NXT Championship tournament, a match that Balor ultimately won. History would not repeat itself on this night as Itami avenged his loss with a running kick, winning the tournament and securing his spot at WrestleMania.
- Hideo Itami’s WrestleMania Journey: The absolute highlight of the night, watching Itami’s journey unfold right in front of my very eyes from his signing in Japan, to his arrival in NXT, to his tournament victory and participation in Wrestlemania. This package allowed fans to see a more human side of Itami and connect with him and away that hadn’t been possible before. Even if you are strapped for time, go out of your way to watch this package.
The NXT Future Five
5. Adrian Neville (Last Week – Not Ranked)
It isn’t often that Neville finds himself at the bottom of any list, especially for an episode of NXT. So why wasn’t he ranked higher than usual this time? Despite losing his semi-final contest, he was facing some stiff competition in the form of Hideo Itami. Neville made it to the finals of the #1 Contenders Tournament for the NXT Championship, but at that time he had the focus of a man obsessed with getting back the NXT Championship. Perhaps it was his knowledge that he was getting called up to RAW the night after WrestleMania, but Neville seemed really off his game. He spent a lot of time during the match focused on the crowd, who were visibly getting under his skin and getting the best of him. This is not the Neville we are used to seeing. Instead of taking his usual high velocity approach to fighting, Neville implemented a methodical pace, which seemed counter-productive to his own high flying abilities. This ultimately lead to his downfall, and he has nobody to blame but himself.
4. Dana Brooks (Last Week – Not Ranked)
Although Brooks didn’t have an actual match on the show, her latest vignette helped to clarify her character a bit more, which was something strongly lacking in her previous photos. Most of WWE’s Divas have been marketed as “strong, sexy, and powerful” and Dana Brooks certainly fits that description, and because of this, her first few vignettes didn’t exactly make it clear whether or not fans should be booing or cheering her. To be fair, if it wasn’t for the footage of Dana during the NXT San Jose show, I might still feel the same way. They mixed footage of her signing autographs for fans, a decidedly baby face thing to do, while talking about how her body is close to perfection, which could be construed as a heel view point. Thankfully, the footage of her at the San Jose event shows her clearly showing attitude to the fans, all but confirming her status as a narcissistic heel. This has me excited because if Dana has the moves to match her mouth and physique, she could end up being a female version of Superstar Billy Graham, which we really haven’t seen in WWE before. This package not only got me excited for her debut next week, but helped raise her stock in my eyes.
3. Tyler Breeze (Last Week – Not Ranked)
Prince Pretty had an impressive showing on tonight’s episode, but he failed to really make the kind of impact he is always claiming he will. It was the usual problem Breeze tends to have, with the resident president of cute-ville showing focused aggression early on, but also allowing himself to become distracted with his image. At one point, Tyler seemed more concerned with yelling at the referee not to touch him than his opponent Finn Balor. In the end this would lead to Finn Balor besting him, proving once again that until he is ready to become more disciplined or turn his attention to the tag team division, Tyler Breeze will only reach a certain level in NXT. The only reason he wasn’t ranked lower this week was because Dana didn’t compete in a match, and Neville took so many steps backwards that he tripped and fell on his backside. That’s not good news for Mr. Selfie stick.
2. Finn Balor (Last Week – Not Ranked)
By all accounts, Finn Balor should have won this tournament. He was heading into it with tremendous momentum, having recently battled NXT Champion Kevin Owens. Although Balor was unsuccessful in his bid to become NXT Champion, he still pushed the champ to his limit, and more importantly, got there by winning a huge 8 man tournament, so he had both experience and history on his side. His victory against Tyler Breeze demonstrated that he is a thinking man’s wrestler. Usually Finn Balor isn’t afraid to go all out for a match, but here against Breeze he was almost pacing himself, knowing he might have a third match against Itami. During that match with Itami, Balor showed himself to be a smarter wrestler than Itami, making calculated moves and not taking as many risks as usual. In the end, his previous success against Itami may have made him overconfident, as Finn was caught off guard one too many times and ate a running kick to the face and suffered a loss for his efforts. Despite the loss, one hard fought victory and another hard fought loss can still take you almost all the way to the top.
1. Hideo Itami Last Week – Not Ranked)
There really couldn’t be another choice for the #1 spot this week. This episode of NXT could have changed their name to the Hideo Itami show for all the screen time that he got, and that isn’t a bad thing. Let’s start with his in ring performance. Hideo Itami looked less like an NXT rookie here and more like Kenta, which is what Triple H has reportedly been telling him he needs to do. It looks as though he has been listening. During his match with Breeze, Itami paid tribute to Tatsumi Fujinami who was being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2015 by using his signature maneuver, the Dragon Sleeper. It was a nice little nod to his home country and the legend who happened to be in attendance. Whilst fighting Finn Balor, Itami seemed to be operating at a higher gear than Balor, outpacing him on several occasions during the match, but ultimately it was his fighting spirit that won out the day as Itami came back from underneath to secure victory and his place in history. During the profile video, none other than Hulk Hogan put over Itami saying that the reaction he received in Japan was bigger than his own. That is a powerful statement coming from one of the most popular wrestlers of all time. With his tournament victory, Itami managed to leap frog former NXT Champions Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville, and current champion Kevin Owens and make it to WrestleMania before any of them, all within six months of his debut. Now that’s impressive!
Final Thoughts
Overall, this week’s show was a healthy mix of in ring action and a look behind the scenes, but in the end it was all about Hideo Itami. I think for a guy had seemingly lost so much momentum since he first signed with the company, an episode dedicated to him was just what he needed. Now he just needs to capitalize on tonight’s momentum if he wants to stay on top in next week’s Future Five.
